Will Stable Loads help my set up?

After driving thousands of miles with my Torklift stable loads, I would strongly recommend them.

Paul

Rtz549
That looks like my spring pack on an 03 dodge
Thanks

If your truck has the lower overload leaf; absolutely add the StableLoad:

Thanks for all the great posts.
I have Rancho 9000 shocks that are about 9 yrs old and maybe 70k mi on them. They seem to be working ok.
I run 80 psi in the rear tires.
If I run around 20 psi in the firestone airbags it's pretty stable.
I think the Energy Susp stops just compress too much. They are in contact with the overloads, but I think a solid piece would engage the overload much better.

Just curious FireGuard, how much pressure are you running in your tires?

The simple answer is yes. The expanded answer is:
I'm not a fan of air bags because they have too much rebound for me. I have a set of Firestones that have been in the garage for 6 years. You can have them.
What I am a fan of is old fashioned spring steel: dumb old leaf springs and, if needed, Stable Loads. Almost no rebound or recoil which you get out of air bags and coil springs if not majorly supported with shocking. Most leaf spring trucks have a thick, stiff lower overload spring that is the last resort to bottoming out. Many 350's and 3500's have one or two upper secondaries (upper overloads) which are graduated when depressed to take some of the load off of the main spring pack. The Stable Loads simply make the upper secondaries come into play sooner with less squat as a result. My 2500 came with upper secondaries in a Camper Package and A friend offered his 1 ton secondaries and I added that set of uppers to the mix after some experimentation. Dumb old leaf springs and the combination of extra secondaries and Stable Loads has made my suspension very,... well,.. stable. Almost re-bound free. Of course I have the usual other accoutrements of adjustable shocks and a factory anti-sway bar, which help marginally.
Truck springs are always a compromise. You want a 'good' ride quality when running light (unloaded), and the sheer heft ability to carry some heavy loads when needed. So, this requires a set of springs that are (i hate to use the word) progressive. The rate changes as you add weight.
I just ordered a pair of add-a-leaves to go on the bottom of the spring pack. This may be gilding the lilly, but I'm always up for suspension experimentation, which I've done on Jeeps/Land Cruisers/IH's and trucks for decades. So until they come and I install them, here is the current setup. Warning! Old leaf springs are kind of like sausage making: you don't want watch. The rusty orange hue is from the soda and salt on our trip over the Mojave Road a year ago. Yes, i did pressure wash the underparts when we got home, but this stuff is really caustic/rustic. And, YES, we're doing the trip again, only in reverse, in a couple weeks. After taking these pix a couple days ago, i crawled back under there and unloaded a can of WD-40 on all those rusty looking parts. An overview:

So, what exactly are we looking at? From the spring perch up we have:
stock 4" lift block
a 7/8" thick factory bottom overload spring
an 1/16" shim
3 main leaves
a 1" spacer block
a thicker 500 pound rated upper secondary (my original 2500 secondary)
2 thinner, together 500 pound rated secondaries from a Dodge 3500
The new add-a-leaves will go directly above the 1/8" shim on the bottom of the main pack. Something you don't see is the centering bolt. It's 18" long and goes through the entire spring pack, bottom to top. This ear Dodge uses one centering bolt, whereas the '03 and newer use two centering bolts, which is a good idea. The newer Dodge springs also lose the 4" lift block (which only adds to axle wrap anyway)
Where's the Stable Load? the rear most is that black blob in the pic below: notice the 1/2" air space before they come in contact with the upper secondaries:

The business end of last resort on the overload. You can see by the imprint the suspension does not bottom out very much. Some Chevys use this lower overload spring and replace that rubber stop with a thicker angled block and call it good.

Even people without upper secondaries on their truck can go to a junk yard and grind off some brackets from a 3500, take the upper secondary springs and blocks and do a homemade 3500 suspension. The holes are in the frame already for this purpose, even if you do not have secondaries.
Just a little grist for your suspension mill.
regards, as always, jefe

I have a 2003 3500 SRW with a Lance 1071, I have the Big Wig, Firestone air bags and Stable loads, with Ranch 9000 shocks the combination, handles the load fine, so with your DRW adding the Stable loads should work

Carrying a heavy load and reducing sway in a 3rd Gen' RAM requires a multi tiered approach. IMO, given the weight of your camper, your truck needs; airbags, extended (upper) overload bump-stops (StableLoads are excellent, but there are other options if you're on a budget), and/or (lower) "Quick Disconnect" StableLoads, and an anti-sway bar.

I know that you've just ordered a Big-Wig, but for your Ram, the RoadMaster bar, due to the way it mounts to the axle, is a better at controlling sway. Depending upon what you have at the moment, a new set of shock absorbers would probably help too. As you have discovered, the Energy Suspension 9109 bump stops are too compliant to be effective on your truck.

As others have mentioned, over inflating the air bags will cause excessive sway. Use just enough pressure so that the (extended) bump stop is still (barely) in contact with the overload spring. In my truck that's 40-50 PSI max.

Also, you're not the first one to tackle this problem. Be sure to ask plenty of other 3rd Gen Ram DRW 3500 owners what they've done... The Cummins Forum is a good one, so is Diesel Truck Resource forum.

Cheers,
-Mark

Can I ask how old your shocks are? If they are the OEM shocks from 2003, I would suggest replacing them first with something more substantial, Ranchos, Monomaxes, etc., before you look for another solution.

I have an 2014 F-350 and carry a 3,000 pound Lance. The only thing I put on for load control is a set of lower StabilLoads. When the camper is loaded the suspension compresses to just above the OEM overloads. This gives me a solid ride and very much reduces the side to side rocking. If I undo the StabilLoads I can certainly feel the difference in that it will rock more. My truck unloaded sits naturally rear high, so loaded it levels off quite nicely. So far, no air bags needed.

On my old 1994 F-250 I didn't have StabilLoads and only had a set of air bags. Back then I didn't know the difference and just accepted the way it rode, it rocked side to side a bit, but it was never uncontrollable. At this point I don't have any plans to put the camper back on the old truck but if I were to do so the very first thing I'd do is get a set of StabilLoads.

-Joe